New phase begins in the tender procedure for the Budapest 92.9 MHz frequency
After the formal examination of bids in the procedure for the Budapest 92.9 MHz frequency, the Media Council of the National Media and Infocommunications Authority (NMHH) is now requesting the operator of Klubrádió to remedy the deficiencies, while the body declared the bids of the other two bidders formally invalid. The charity campaign organised by the National Association of Local Radios (Hungarian abbreviation: HEROE) for children in hospitals reached more than a third of the population in the second half of November according to the impact assessment of the campaign as also discussed by the Board at last week’s meeting.
Radio tenders and media supervisory decisions
The Board has carried out the formal examination of the bids submitted for the community use of the Budapest 92.9 MHz radio media service and now requests Klubrádió Zrt., the current operator of the frequency, to remedy deficiencies, while it declared the bids of Közösségi Rádiózásért Egyesület and LBK Médiaszolgáltató 2020 Kft. to be formally invalid. The applicants may appeal against the decision.
The Council decided to announce Mária Rádió Frekvencia Kft., the sole bidder, as the winner of the tender for the community use of the Kaposvár 93.1 MHz local frequency. The Media Council has carried out the formal examination of the bids submitted for the community use of the regional frequency Győr 96.4 MHz and of the local frequency Mosonmagyaróvár 99.7 MHz and in both cases registered the sole bidder, Katolikus Rádió Zrt.
The Media Council imposed a fine of HUF 150,000 on the operator of Mária Rádió Cegléd for airing less spoken word content as well as fewer programmes dealing with and assisting local public and everyday life, and more music than stipulated in its contractual commitments during a reviewed programming week in September-October. The Board imposed a fine of HUF 80,000 on the operator of FM90 Campus Rádió for airing less minority and public service broadcasts and more reruns than stipulated in its contract during the examined programming week in September, and for failing to ensure that the duration of its public service broadcasts reached two-thirds of the total weekly transmission time stipulated in the Media Act. When imposing legal consequences, the Media Council always determines the form and extent of these with due consideration of all circumstances of the specific case and employs the principles of progressiveness and proportionality.
Effective collaboration of local radios for sick children
The Media Council has also adopted an impact assessment by the Kantar Hoffmann-Scores Group commissioned by the NMHH Media Council on the charity campaign of HEROE. In November, all sixty-six members of the association joined the fundraiser for smart devices to make it easier for hospitalised children to communicate with loved ones during the Christmas season in the pandemic situation and they regularly issued calls for supporting the initiative. The assessment indicated that the radios involved in the fundraising reached more than a third of those over the age of 18, and since the news was transmitted via other media as well, the awareness of the campaign increased even further after the campaign closed. The campaign also reached almost half of those who normally do not talk about what they hear on the radio, and many of them do not even listen to the radio at all. The incentive effect of the initiative was extremely high: one in five respondents considered donating. The document is available in its entirety on the NMHH website.
The full agenda of the Media Council’s weekly sessions can be found on the Board’s website, along with the minutes of the meetings and all decisions taken; the latest decisions will be published after the necessary validation and administration period.